Guatemalan Congressmen Refuse to Categorize Civil War as Mayan Genocide

EspañolThe Guatemalan Congress passed a non-binding resolution that denies a Mayan genocide occurred during the civil war (1960-1996), calling for “national reconciliation.”

“It is legally impossible… that the genocide could have occurred in our country’s territory during the armed conflict,” outlined the resolution approved on Tuesday by 87 of the 158 legislators. The resolution was sponsored by Luis Fernando Pérez, a legislator for the party founded by Efraín Ríos Montt, the former president convicted of genocidal crimes against the Mayan population during his administration (1982-1983). Ríos Montt was later set free after the courts annulled his sentence, and a re-trial is expected to begin next January.

Groups representing the indigenous community of Guatemala, the main victims of the estimated 250,000 killings that took place during the civil war, have said that the cancellation of Ríos Montt’s verdict is a denial of justice.

Diego Rivera, leader of the Quiche Norte Victims Movement, said, “It can’t be denied that there was genocide, our proof is the more than 1,771 human remains. No one can hide there were several massacres. That’s a racist attitude.”